Chapter 80: The Relationship Between the Two

Up to this point, the promotion examination for Class 1 had completely ended; the first-year Class 1 officially advanced to become Second Grade Class 1, and they also achieved the result of "no one eliminated," which is also considered an excellent achievement in the history of Shilake Academy.

After the examination ended, facing Wang Yan and others' questioning, Huo Yutong roughly repeated her explanation to Mu En once again.

After hearing her words, Wang Yan and the others also felt it hard to believe, but given Huo Yutong's insistence that she knew nothing, they could only accept this reality.

That evening, Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong received two gilded invitations from Mu En.

"I've seen your efforts over this period; I know hard work is good, but you also need to go out occasionally to relax. Tonight, an appreciation event open to the core disciples of the Outer Courtyard will be held in Shilake City; you two can go check it out, just to unwind."

Saying this, he actually blinked mischievously again.

"Of course, it can also be seen as cultivating your feelings."

He had never relaxed his observation of Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong, and naturally noticed that their feelings had warmed up again over the past two days.

This warming up was mutual, but the type was slightly different.

Tang Wulin clearly valued Huo Yutong more; evidently, this experience of almost losing and regaining her let him truly realize how important she was to him, and his attitude toward her became much gentler than before.

Huo Yutong, however, was even more interesting; Mu En had noticed more than once that she blushed and secretly glanced at Tang Wulin, that infatuated, lingering gaze clearly different from her previous simple trust and admiration, indicating that something had happened to cause such a big change in her feelings toward Tang Wulin.

As for what exactly happened, Mu En neither knew nor cared; anyway, it was most important that these two kids' feelings could develop smoothly.

Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong left the Sea God Pavilion holding the invitations, and for a while neither spoke.

Mu En's earlier words already made his meaning very clear; he regarded them as a couple whose relationship had not yet been established.

Usually, whenever someone like Mu En teased them about their relationship, Tang Wulin would always be the first to speak up and tell them not to imagine things.

However, this time he couldn't bring himself to say that.

Quietly observing Huo Yutong's profile, Tang Wulin seriously pondered what she meant to him.

When they first met, she was a reliable, gentle older sister who treated the stranger him kindly, grilled fish for him, and warmly said she would take him out of the dangerous Star Dou Great Forest.

Later, when he learned of her troubled past, their distance quickly closed, becoming close friends; during this time many events occurred—the assassination incident, the Ma Xiaotao incident, the martial soul fusion incident—each making their relationship more intimate, and it was from this period that Huo Yutong went from being a familiar stranger to Tang Wulin to a close friend with whom even a tight embrace would not cause shyness.

After that came a year of constant companionship; during that year they didn't experience anything earth-shattering, yet it let him understand the girl named Huo Yutong ever more deeply—a year neither long nor short, but enough for him to see all her sides: happy, angry, sometimes mature like a little adult, sometimes pouting like a little child.

By now, having experienced the loss and recovery, Tang Wulin had painfully understood Huo Yutong's importance to him; she is a girl who can gently accept everything about him, and Tang Wulin even suspects that no matter how excessive his actions toward her, she would ultimately smile and forgive him.

As for such a girl, what exactly does he feel toward her? Familial love, friendship, or romance? Tang Wulin couldn't come up with an answer for the moment; he only knew she was extremely important to him, more important than everyone else in this era combined.

The two walked silently to the gate of Shilake City, when suddenly Huo Yutong said:

"Sorry, Wulin, my mind is a bit tangled right now; let me change my appearance to clear my head."

"Huh?"

Tang Wulin didn't react at first, but then he saw Huo Yutong, before his eyes, turn snow‑white from head to toe, like an elf walking out of a world of snow.

Huo Yutong's skull comes from the Snow Emperor, possessing immense ice‑snow power; she cannot fully adapt to this power, so whenever she uses her Ice Snow Girl martial soul while drawing on the skull's power, her emotions quickly calm under the influence of the ice element in the skull.

Specifically, when she uses the Ice Snow Armor with her Ice Snow Girl martial soul, her disposition becomes rather aloof and not prone to emotional fluctuations.

Of course, the premise is that the interlocutor cannot be Tang Wulin; when facing him, no matter how aloof she appears, her heart cannot possibly be completely without ripples.

Especially after the scorpion‑tail incident two days ago, recalling that feeling now makes Huo Yutong want to flee his side immediately—it's simply too embarrassing.

How could she have made such a request; what was she thinking at the time?

What embarrassed Huo Yutong the most was that, upon recalling the whole incident, she realized she actually didn't dislike that feeling; on the contrary, she had a taste for it and wanted more and more of his touch.

This causes her, whenever she sees Tang Wulin now, to recall that sensation, her face flushing and she can't even speak properly.

If she went out again like this, it would be disastrous; therefore Huo Yutong decisively chose to use the power of her soul bone to suppress her shyness.

The result proved very effective; after completing her transformation, Huo Yutong felt her shyness greatly weakened, and even when looking directly at Tang Wulin's face she no longer had the urge to flee.

If one must point out a drawback, it's probably that this outfit is simply too eye‑catching.

Although the original Huo Yutong was also quite pretty, she was more like the lovely girl next door, giving a sense of ease and joy, but she herself wasn't particularly eye‑catching.

However, after her martial soul manifested, things changed—not only did she grow taller, her figure became much more mature and full, and with the Ice Snow Armor adding a snow‑white dress, she became strikingly conspicuous in a crowd.

Instantly, countless gazes focused on her, and many people began whispering about her identity.

Huo Yutong paid no heed to this; she seemed unaware of those gazes and murmurs, merely smiling as she lightly took Tang Wulin's hand.

"All right, Wulin, let's go to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion."

(End of chapter)